Star soprano Renée Fleming gives a radiant performance in the title role of Strauss’s opera, a bittersweet comedy set in 1860s Vienna, starring as the beautiful daughter of an impoverished noble family. Hans-Joachim Ketelsen is Mandryka, the wealthy landowner and unlikely suitor who wins Arabella’s heart. Barbara Bonney sings Zdenka, Arabella’s younger sister, and Raymond Very is Matteo, the officer who thinks he is in love with Arabella but unexpectedly finds his happiness elsewhere. Judith Forst and Eric Halfvarson round out the cast as Count and Countess Waldner, Arabella and Zdenka’s parents. Christoph Eschenbach conducts.

Returning for the holidays, this season's family entertainingment is richard Jone' witty production of Humperdinck's fairy-tale opera, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, in whcih two children facre against a wicked witch.